No more 'Gary in the Morning' after 17 years

Thursday

STROUDSBURG — Poconos radio listeners woke up to "Gary in the Morning," ate breakfast with him, and drove to work with him for 17 years. Until Wednesday.

STROUDSBURG — Poconos radio listeners woke up to "Gary in the Morning," ate breakfast with him, and drove to work with him for 17 years.

Until Wednesday.

Gary Smith, the brash WSBG disc jockey seemingly always in pursuit of a cheap laugh, is off the air and out of a job after invoking the controversial "nappy-headed ho" remark of syndicated radio host Don Imus.

"We reviewed the tape and have terminated him as of Wednesday morning," said Rick Musselman, executive vice president of the Stroudsburg FM station's parent company, Nassau Mid-Atlantic.

"Gary has done a tremendous amount of good for both African-Americans and whites, but we feel his comments crossed the line."

Black community leaders bristled at Smith's irreverent banter on his show Tuesday. Smith repeated Imus' remarks during an on-air "Phrase That Pays" contest.

Smith "used the phrase with full knowledge of the reaction to Don Imus' use of the exact same phrase just a day earlier, which is the reason he was terminated and not suspended," said a press release from the radio station.

Imus' show, syndicated by CBS, will be suspended for two weeks starting Monday, and MSNBC announced that it would drop its simulcast of the show. Imus' show is carried by WSBG's sister AM station WVPO. The station will continue to carry Imus' show when it returns to the air, according to Musselman.

The station did not announce what will replace "Gary in the Morning."

Smith declined to speak to the Pocono Record, but in an interview with Laurie Monteforte of local TV outlets WBRE/WYOU, he tried to mend fences with those he offended.

"I just want to say I'm sorry for the things I said," he said. "They were stupid."

Smith's firing was a surprise to some and a disappointment to others.

"In Gary's situation, I thought the suspension was sufficient, but the station has to answer to sponsors. I do applaud them for a quick response," said Robert Hillman, head of a local advisory council to the state's human relations commission and chairman of the Unity Coalition of the Poconos.

"I'm very sorry; I didn't think Gary deserved it the firing, but the station had to make a decision. But we in the community will suffer because of it."

Smith told WBRE/WYOU he's already talked to local community leaders, including Hillman.

"We've already had a nice conversation on the phone," Smith said. "We're gonna get together. We're gonna do a dialogue. We're gonna do some kind of forum to help people raise awareness to this thing."

"Money is such a bottom line that these people continue to say these things," he said. "It's unfortunate that here we are in 2007 and people are still making the kinds of comments that don't speak well of the country we're building.

"It doesn't make sense. We're supposed to be the light of the world."

While Smith was irreverent on the air, he was a boon to many charities.

"These children would relate so closely to music; Gary never hesitated to get really close to these kids. He'd put his arms around them and embrace them," she said. "It meant a lot to the kids, and — you can tell — to Gary, too."

LaRose summed up Smith as "a smart alec, but he's not mean-spirited, hurtful or hateful."

Smith was a "very good supporter" of Shepherd's Maternity House, a refuge for displaced unwed mothers.

"He's helped us with various fundraisers along with the radio station. He's always supported our cause," said Pat Stys, co-founder of the maternity house. "He's a very generous, kind-hearted person that sometimes gets wrapped up in his own thoughts and doesn't really think before he speaks."

Hillman also noted Smith's extensive community service with organizations including the Unity Coalition of the Poconos and the Stroudsburg Little Bethel Historical Association.

"Gary gives freely of his time; I'm so sorry this has happened," he said.

Beyond Smith's on-air goof, Hillman wants to see a serious community dialogue about race relations.

"We have a large influx of people of all backgrounds coming into the area," he said.

Smith's ouster follows a year of tumultuous change at the local radio company, headquartered on Sixth Street in Stroudsburg.

A company called Access .1 had agreed to buy WSBG and WVPO from Nassau, but the sale fell through. Budget cuts and layoffs followed. Then station managers drastically changed the format at WVPO, ending its oldies programming with local DJs and changing to all-talk, adding the Imus show in January.

Smith's high-profile departure could be his big break.

"This could be good for Gary's career. This is a national story, and I wouldn't be surprised if some program director in a major market hears the story and becomes interested in Smith's work," said Charles Warner, a communications professor at East Stroudsburg University.